SINGAPORE: Most nights, Lisa Jaafar heads to the Singapore red-light district of Geylang, and stands in the streets waiting for men to buy her services – S$50 (US$37) for 30 minutes of her time. Five years ago, when business was brisk, she could earn more than S$200 in about five hours, then head home to her two children.
Working a five-day week, she would make about S$4,000 a month, tax free. But now, she says, there are fewer clients on the streets. It’s probably not a reflection of the city state’s economic performance, however. The signs are that the sex industry in clean, green Singapore – where prostitution is legal – is as vibrant as ever. That’s despite the fact most activities associated with the world’s oldest profession are outlawed.
“Owning a brothel, pimping, online advertising of sex work, recruiting a woman, all are illegal,” says Vanessa Ho, director of sex worker advocacy group Project X. Soliciting prostitution in public places is also illegal in the Lion City.
That doesn’t stop such activities from taking place. Freelancers like Jaafar solicit on the streets, advertise their services online, and work under the cover of escort agencies. Then there’s Orchard Towers, in the middle of Singapore’s busy shopping district, housing bars and clubs frequented largely by Western visitors and sex workers. The entertainment complex is cheekily known as the “Four Floors of Whores”.
On the sex-themed website Sammy Boy Forum, Sgbabes Escorts advertises the services of Singaporean women. Alicia, a Singaporean Chinese purported to be 20, for example, is a “sweet and lovely student”. She weighs 45kg, is 1.62 metres tall, has a fair complexion, and costs S$650 a night – room not included. Alicia will do a house call for an additional S$50, but if a client finds her lacking on sight, he can reject her within five minutes, and pay a fee of S$50.
Assuming she works five days a week – and is booked up each night – Alicia is raking in about S$13,000 a month.
Ho says the sums prostitutes charge for sex services in Singapore vary widely, depending on where the woman plies her trade. “It can be as low as S$10 for a three-minute h*** job, up to S$1,000 for a massage with sex,” she says.
Scarlet, a 21-year-old student who became a “sugar baby” three years ago, explains the legalities and realities of prostitution. “If the sex worker isn’t attached to an agency, 100 per cent of the money goes to her,” she says. “However, if the lady is attached to an agency, the agency’s cut can range from 20 per cent to 70 per cent. But even as an independent worker, a good amount of my earnings is spent on advertising.”
Although Singapore does not stick too closely to the letter of the law, there are crackdowns. In May, 32-year-old Roderic Chen Hao Ren was sentenced to two years in jail and fined S$83,000 for operating a “virtual brothel” – a website advertising the sexual services of women at rates ranging from S$450 to S$600 an hour. He reportedly took 40 per cent of the women’s earnings.
Last year, Quek Choon Leong, 34, was jailed for 33 months for running a vice ring of 32 prostitutes, supported by his wife and 10 other staff.
In another indication of how the government is trying to keep a lid on illegal activity, the Ministry of Home Affairs said last month it had recorded a 40 per cent rise in the number of unlicensed massage parlours in Singapore between 2013 and 2016. These establishments, the ministry said, are often a front for vice activities.
Its findings prompted the introduction of a new Massage Establishment Bill to clamp down harder on operators, increasing fines tenfold to S$10,000, and introducing prison sentences of up to two years. The bill just has had its first reading. (CONTINUED)
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